WBPCC president Adhir Chowdhury today criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for defending controversial Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mandal, saying it would influence the ongoing investigation into the Sagar Ghosh murder case.
"The CM's comment defending Anubrata Mandal is most irrelevant and never expected from her when a probe is being done by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) (against the murder case)," Chowdhury, who is also the Union Minister of State for Railways, said.
Mondal, Birbhum district president of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the party's observer for Burdwan, had on November 6 during a party programme in Katwa threatened to chop off the hands of Congress workers if they tried to damage hoardings of the chief minister or party flags.
He had also courted controversy during the last panchayat elections when he asked party workers to burn the houses of independent candidates (dissident TMC workers) and hurl bombs at policemen if they went to rescue them.
Sagar Ghosh, father of one such candidate, was killed when his house was attacked allegedly by Trinamool workers within a few days of Mondal's threat. Mondal is one of the accused but was not arrested yet. The Calcutta High Court on February 14 formed the SIT to probe the murder.
Addressing a party function at Durgapur yesterday, the CM defended Mondal saying, "Some people are after him. They say a lot of things against him, but he is a good organiser and is working well."
In line with the CM, other TMC leaders and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and Transport Minister Madan Mitra also praised Mandal's organisational skill, while defending his role in the party.
Meanwhile, the members of the SIT today went to the victim's house in Birbhum district and recorded statements of his family members.
